Our Review:

KRISTAL Audio Engine is a powerful multi-track recorder, audio sequencer and mixer - ideal for anyone who wants to get started with recording, mixing and mastering digital audio.

According to their website, "It is designed as a modular system. The main application provides a mixing console, while the audio sequencer, live audio input and so on are loaded as separate Plug-Ins".

It supports an ASIO audio driver, which may be appealing to those who are concerned with latency during multi-track recording. It's based on a 32-bit floating-point audio engine that can handle sample rates of 44 to 192 kHz with word sizes of 16, 24 or 32 bits. It comes with a three-band parametric EQ and supports WAVE, AIFF, FLAC, and Ogg Vorbis file formats.

It can only handle a maximum of 16 audio tracks, though the website mentions an upcoming version 2 that will handle more tracks and provide support for MIDI, virtual instruments, and a wider range of VST plugins. Like all media-editing programs, KRISTAL requires a modern, fast PC. Don't even think about using it with a sub-1Ghz machine.